12/07/2014

Another mysterious wave of dead sea animals has washed ashore in Peru,
the possible consequence of ongoing radiation releases from the
Fukushima Daiichi nuclear facility in Japan. BBC News reports
that 500 dead sea lions were recently discovered on Peru's northern
coastline, some 250 miles north of the capital city of Lima, with no
obvious explanation as to why this occurred.

The latest of
several mass die-offs in recent years, the rotting corpses were found on
Anconcillo Beach, located in Peru's Ancash region. Both young and old
sea lions were found at the site, which the local governor blamed on
fishermen who may have poisoned them while they searched for food at the
shoreline. Others like the environmental group Orca, however, say oil
exploration is probably the cause.

As investigations continue, a
definitive cause of the deaths has yet to be determined. The Maritime
Institute (Imarpe), in a government report, denied that oil exploration
had anything to do with the deaths. Meanwhile, Peruvian police are
reportedly looking into other possible causes of the deaths, including
entanglement in fishing nets or the accidental ingestion of plastic.

Fukushima radiation still harming Pacific sea life

But another possible cause that is deliberately being ignored is
radiation poisoning from Fukushima, which continues to be a problem in
some areas of the Pacific Ocean. Radioactive plumes are still traveling
eastward across the Pacific, affecting everything in their path.

Nuclear expert Arnie Gunderson, during a recent episode of Radio Ecoshock, warned that the worst is still yet to come from Fukushima. He reiterated this warning during a subsequent airing of the Nuclear Hotseat
show, emphasizing that both soil and groundwater are threatened by
these radioactive plumes, which will continue to cause problems for many
decades.

"We are not at the peak," he stated, noting that two
radioactive plumes are currently traveling up and down the West Coast,
one near Canada and the other near Oregon and California. "It's still
coming, and it will continue to come as long as Fukushima continues to
bleed into the Pacific."

Mysterious animal deaths continue as governments deny Fukushima link

Several months prior to this latest sea lion discovery, at least 200
other sea lions were found dead even further north in the Piura region
of Peru. Several dead
dolphins and sea turtles, as well as dozens of pelicans, were also
strewn among the mysterious marine wreckage, which also went unexplained
by authorities.

And back in 2012, just one year after Fukushima,
hundreds of dead dolphins were found along another beach in Peru, also
without explanation. Each of these events is still technically under
investigation, though any consideration of Fukushima is apparently off
the table as government authorities attempt to blame other less likely
factors.

"[Fukushima is] going to bleed for decades, if not
centuries [into the Pacific]," added Gunderson during one of his radio
segments. "There will still be a huge residual amount of radiation in
the soil and in the groundwater so that the site will continue to bleed
into the Pacific a century or more."